Avatar: The Thief of Ba Sing Se
by TheWildWitch
Summary: About a thousand years before Avatar Aang, there was a foursome who was as different as the GAang but came together for the greater good of their world. This is the story of a young Avatar and her friends.
1. Chapter 1: The Quads & the Junior Royals

About a thousand years before Avatar Aang, there was a foursome who was as different as the GAang but came together for the greater good of their world. This is the story of a young Avatar and her friends.

It all begins in the great city of Ba Sing Se where the leaders of the four nations were gathered to discuss the issues of their world. Prince Bojing of the Water Tribe, Prince Jianguo of the Fire Nation, and Princess Jingfei of the Earth Kingdom (known as the Junior Royals by peasants) were talking politely at a tea shop right near the market as their parents met.

A girl with long, tangled pale hair that fell into her face and pale gray eyes slinked along the wall next to a food stall. She kneeled down to fix the bandages that wrapped her calves and feet, her long, russet-colored side-slit skirt's fabric whispering slightly at the movement.

Sure that everything was set, she checked to make sure the coast was clear. The girl peeked over the display ledge to see that the shop keeper was talking to a customer on the other side with his back turned to her.

Seeing her chance, the girl grabbed the first loaf of bread that her hands found and started running away, shoving the bread into a bag around her waist. The shop keeper noticed and began chasing after her.

"Come back here, you thief!" He called. A few other shop keepers joined in after they noticed their own missing wares. Things like pots and rotten food was thrown at her, which she easily dodged.

Hearing the commotion, Prince Bojing ran out of the tea shop with his twin swords ready, followed by Prince Jianguo and Princess Jingfei. The girl hand-sprung front flipped over the Water Tribe prince, smirking down at his astonished face, and landed lightly. Oh, maybe I should point out that that girl was me.

My name is Niu. Just Niu. Nothing fancy or special, not even surname worthy. I've lived in Ba Sing Se for as long as I remember. I don't have parents, so I provide for myself and the few other orphans at the Home; but more on that later.

After my (beautifully executed, if I do say so myself) flip and landing, I raced off down this alley and that. Hearing my pursuers come nearer, I hid in a side alley of a side alley behind the wall. They passed by, and I cautiously slipped out of the alley and turned to the one that would lead me to the Home.

Out of nowhere, a rock was launched at my face and a fireball nearly hit me in the stomach, but I dodged each of them with little effort. A sword was at my throat, forcing me to the wall.

Prince Bojing glared at me over his sword, as did his companions. I stared back at them with a bored expression.

Princess Jingfei stepped forward, placing a hand on her fashionably clothed hip threateningly. "I do not appreciate thieves running around my city."

"Oh, did I miss the coronation? Sorry, sweetheart, but this isn't your city." I mocked. The sword pressed against my throat harder in a warning manner.

"Show respect for Princess Jingfei, as undeserving of it as she is." Prince Jianguo spoke up, smirking at the earth bender.

She clenched her fists and snapped at him, hitting him on the top of his black-haired head, "Shut up, Soot Breath!"

Prince Bojing was distracted by their arguing long enough for me to escape from their reach. I taunted, skipping away, "Well, this has been fun, but I have an appointment to make. Buh-bye~!" I waved and grinned madly before disappearing down an alley.

I managed to lose them in the labyrinth of alleys and finally made it back to the Home. The Home is an abandoned rich merchant's home turned into a refuge for what most people call street rats and urchins. We call ourselves The Quads, meaning all four elements in one place. We all learned how to successfully steal our food and whatever else we needed at very young ages. We few orphans, who have no relative and usually the ability to bend one of the elements, come from all over the world. Though, we sometimes get an odd one who's just plain good at thieving (or too pathetic to turn away).

I scaled the climbing vines up to the third story window. Slipping in, I swiftly dodged the barrage of weapons and assorted elements being hurled at me. The only thing that hit me was a coloring stick that was being jabbed into my leg, courtesy of our youngest member of three, Mao, who was yelling "Die, intruder!"

We currently have five members: earth bender Ming, fire bender Shu, water bender Keiko, little non-bending Mao, and me, the air bender. Surprised about my element? So was I when I figured it out.

"You lose, Niu. Mao got you." Shu smirked, the only boy in this group of girls. He's been here almost as long as me. His unkempt chocolate brown hair fell into his sapphire blue eyes.

"Keep smirking and you don't get dinner." I threatened. Mao was already poking through my bag for the treasures.

"Bread!" She exclaimed happily after finding it, her raven black hair falling out of her twin braids and into her caramel eyes.

"I tried extra hard to get it just for you. Now, we can have some bread with our dinner. What'd you guys scrounge up?" I patted her head and then turned to the rest of the group.

Ming, our best barterer, flipped her beautiful brunette hair over her slender shoulder as she tossed me her bag. "I managed to get a great deal on some very fine meat. I had to use some of our money though." Her summer green eyes were slightly apologetic but her thoughts were obviously elsewhere, probably on some cute boy she saw today while out.

I peeked in the bag at the huge hunk of meat, smiling. "That has a lot of meat on the bone and plenty of fat. Good job."

Keiko, our only green thumb, pulled a couple of baskets over while smiling sweetly with both her mouth and her onyx eyes. She tugged on the tip of her short dark brown braid. "My garden gave a lot of ripe vegetables and fruit. Plus, I acquired some dessert for us."

She pulled out small pieces of chocolate wrapped in paper, one for each of us, and tossed them to us. We all cheered happily. Dessert is considered a luxury that we can't afford most of the time. They're usually too much work to steal since adults tend to watch children carefully when they're around sweets. It doesn't give much of an opportunity to steal some.

"Yay! Candy!" Mao cheered, already eating all of her chocolate. We older kids broke a little piece off to eat now and save the rest for later. This rarity would not pass us by.

"How'd you get these, Keiko?" I asked, hiding my chocolate in my bag.

"You know that sweet shop out by the palace where the princess goes to get candy every day? Well, after the princess left, I snuck in there while the shopkeeper was busy counting his money and swiped his finest chocolates from right under his nose."

"Well, I think you earned 'Thief of the Day'." Shu said, giving her a loving hug. Those two happened to be dating, and it was nauseatingly adorable sometimes.

Mao, Ming, and I made fake gagging sounds to show how adorable we thought it was. Needless to say, we got glared at.

After we were done dodging water whips and fireballs, Ming started the stew, and we all ate heartily for the first time in a long time. We stayed up talking about our day until long after the sunset. The girls went down to the first floor where we had our rooms, and Shu went to the second floor where his room was. We may all live in the same house, but we have to have our private space just like any other family.

I untied the black and russet-colored rag that served as my shirt even though it barely covered me and pulled off my skirt. I unwrapped my feet and sat in the tub of hot water that Shu and Keiko brought in for me.

I winced and rubbed my feet a little bit, trying to get the layers of dirt off of them. After my feet, I moved to my upper half and washed out my hair, only using enough soap to make suds. Soap and shoes are two things that we can't usually afford on a regular basis.

After getting rid of all of the dirty water and getting fresh water, I helped Mao bathe. After I dried her off and helped her into her nightclothes, I tucked her into bed and went to bed myself.


	2. Chapter 2: Destruction

The next morning, I went down towards the higher class homes where they have a few clothing shops. I noticed Mao had nearly outgrown her shirt, and I wanted to actually buy her a new one. I walked into the cheapest store and shuffled through the shirts, looking to see if any of them would fit Mao. I figure just a little bit big would be good since she can grow into it and found the perfect shirt for her.

I paid for it and was on my way. I hummed merrily as I walked through the labyrinth of alleys, but I did notice the strange behavior of some of the people that I passed. They all seemed to be excited about something. I listened in on a conversation between a cabbage merchant and his customer.

"Did you hear? Another house was bombed." The merchant told his customer.

"Really? Do they know by whom or if anyone was living there?" His customer asked, obviously hungry for details.

"Well, they think it was that terrorist group that's sprung up. I don't know if anyone was living in the house because it was one of those abandoned merchants' homes over by the north side." Cabbage guy replied, seeming to be happy to share his news. Wait. The Home is by the north side, and there's not that many abandoned merchants' homes over there.

I bolted down the alleys back to the Home, where my friends had stayed to take a break from our thieving. There was smoke coming from the windows, and little fires still burned in places. I stood there, staring disbelievingly at the sight before me.

Snapping out of it, I ran to the wreckage, calling for my friends, scared. I shifted the rubble and found Ming, or at least her body. Her throat had been slit along with numerous cuts all over her and nasty burns and broken bones. I pushed down the bile rising in my throat as it constricted with tears when I kneeled down next to her and brushed the stray hairs from her face.

"Niu…" The weak, raspy voice of Shu called from another rubble pile.

I ran over and pulled the rubble off of him, seeing that he held Keiko's body protectively. She looked mostly unharmed, but her neck was broken. Shu held her cold body even as his own life faded away, due to a large gash in his side.

I held Shu in my arms as he gasped, struggling for breath. I asked him quietly as the first tear spilled over, "Oh, Shu, what happened here?"

"Th-the…the Ones…" He wheezed out. He sharply breathed in then out and stopped breathing, his eyes becoming unseeing. I cried as I pulled his eyelids down and laid him next to Keiko. I carried Ming over and laid her next to them.

They all looked so peaceful that one could think that they were sleeping if they didn't know better, but I did know better. As I searched the rubble for Mao, guess who decided to show up.

Give up? It was the Junior Royals from yesterday. Apparently, they were so bored that they had to rubberneck at the smoldering remains of my home and family.

They spotted me almost instantly, but they didn't recognize me. Prince Jianguo called, "Hey, you! What are you doing in there? It's dangerous."

I jumped over the rubble to stand right in front of them. Even with my face and body covered in soot and blood, I'm sure they recognized me.

"I do not have the patience to deal with you imbeciles today! Three of my friends are dead, and I have no wish to deal with you three also!" I snapped, clenching my fists and staring at the ground at their feet while silent tears streamed down my face. I clenched my teeth to prevent myself from wailing in despair.

To my surprise, Prince Bojing hugged me comfortingly while Prince Jianguo and Princess Jingfei put out the fire and moved the rubble. My weak knees gave out, and Prince Bojing carefully sat me down and held me as I cried onto his shoulder.

Prince Jianguo had already taken care of the fires, and Princess Jingfei had moved all of the rubble away from my three friends and was checking to see if there was anyone else. She found no one, apparently.

After my crying and wailing subsided, Prince Bojing murmured gently, "Are your friends the reason you stole those things yesterday?"

I sniffled, "W-we l-lived off o-of wh-what we s-stole. It w-was our o-only w-way to s-survive."

"Was there anyone else besides these three here?" Princess Jingfei asked kind of snappishly, motioning towards Ming, Keiko, and Shu.

I couldn't look at them and studied the ground. I whispered shakily, "There was little Mao who was only three years old."

"Well, stop crying because she's not in the rubble. They must have taken her." Princess Jingfei ordered, looking agitated and walking closer to us.

"We need to tell our parents what happened." Prince Jianguo suggested, walking closer with her.

"Do you want to come with us?" Prince Bojing asked me kindly. He smiled such a genuine, gentle smile that I felt like crying all over again.

I could only nod numbly in response. Prince Bojing helped me stand and led me down all of the alleys to the palace with the other two royals following closely behind. He supported me the entire time, even after we had entered the palace with quite a bit of hassle from the guards. We went at such a brisk pace that it was dizzying.

Down the twisting, confusing corridors we went which seemed even more confusing than the labyrinth of alleys that I traveled through daily. We finally stopped at a door. Prince Jianguo knocked, and we all heard the muffled call of "Come in."

Princess Jingfei opened the door and said, "Pardon the intrusion, but we came to report about the latest bombing."

My already numb sense of reality took a blow. Princess Jingfei actually sounded humble, even kind to whomever she spoke to. When Prince Bojing led me inside, I understood why. She was talking to the four leaders of our world.


	3. Chapter 3: The Change

The leaders of the Fire Nation, Water Tribes, Air Temples, and the Earth Kingdom were all sitting in the room. If I hadn't been mostly dead to the world at that moment, I would have been completely self-conscious about my ratty appearance. But what did I care at that moment? I didn't give a flying lemur monkey's butt.

"What have you to report?" Fire Lord Hideki asked, trying to not look unsettled by this.

"An old, thought to be abandoned home was bombed. It killed three of the inhabitants and one is missing. The girl here is the only known survivor." Prince Jianguo explained, motioning towards me. I flinched and rubbed my arms that were covered in goose bumps.

Earth Queen Zia said sympathetically, "Oh, the poor dear child. I can't even begin to comprehend the pain she must be going through."

"The Ones… It was the Ones… They took them…They took them…" I mumbled almost inaudibly, zoning out to the world completely.

Earth King Fong said quietly, "So, the Ones were behind this attack, too. I don't see why they attacked the home of orphaned children though."

"The world…under one roof…all gone…" I muttered incoherently, pretty sure that I was losing my mind and that this was all a hallucination made by my tired mind.

Water Tribe Chief Kai gasped in realization, "That girl must speak true, however insanely. There must have been all four elements living in one place, which they are against. Their goal is to separate all four elements from each other. Including killing the Avatar once and for all."

"My dear child, what is your element?" Elder Monk Ei asked gently, turning towards me…

I snapped back to focus long enough to answer her. "Air. I am air."

I felt like I was going to collapse again, but thankfully Prince Bojing held me up with a strong, steady arm around my waist and the other holding my hand. Everyone in the room stared at me. I didn't have the energy to ask why.

"It's unheard of for the monks to lose a child. Especially when she wound up here in the Earth Kingdom capital." The elder air nomad stated calmly.

Something dark filled the eyes of the adults, even the monk. There was very surely something they'd like to keep hidden.

My mind, still hazy from grief, raced to figure out what it is. Riddles have always been my specialty. My gaze snapped up to look at them, and I stared at them with wide eyes. "You lost the Avatar?!"

"How did she-?" Fire Lord Hideki began, surprised.

The Junior Royals stared at me in shock and disbelief. Prince Bojing was the first to recover, and he turned to face his father. "Is what she says true?"

Chief Kai sighed and hesitantly replied, "Yes. Soon after the last Avatar died, we searched all of the air temples and everywhere that we could think of for the new Avatar, but we never found him. He was supposed to be an air bender."

Monk Ei sharply inhaled and stared at me wide-eyed. "You! You glow!"

I looked down at myself to find that I did glow a soft blue color. Fog filled the room. Suddenly, I had no control over my body or voice and said in an older male voice (that was most definitely not mine), "I am Avatar Hiroshi. This girl is the new Avatar, the master of all four elements. Treat her well after the hardships she's already faced."

Then, everything faded to black. I woke up what only felt like moments after, staring up at a face I didn't recognize. I jumped to my feet away from the stranger and was hit by a wave of dizziness and nausea.

"Miss, please calm down." His calm, strong voice requested. He brushed his pale hair out of his bright blue eyes and slowly walked over to me, as if not to startle me. "It's alright. You're safe now."

I furrowed my brows, confused. This wasn't the Home, and my friends were nowhere in sight. Then, I remembered. I remembered everything that had happened that day, and the grief ripped through me as if for the first time.

"Please, Miss, you must calm down. There's nothing to fear here." He gently rested a tanned hand on my arm, trying to soothe me.

'Bojing. This is Prince Bojing.' I remembered. I groaned in pain and held my spinning head.

"What happened?" I asked, letting Prince Bojing ease me into a chair.

Fire Lord Hideki spoke up from where everyone else had gathered, "You revealed yourself as the new Avatar, Miss."

Everyone in the room bowed deeply to me. I came to terms with the fact that I'm the Avatar pretty quickly (I mean, it did kind of make sense, and explained the occasional wonky bending from my friends), but I did not like all of this bowing one bit.

"Knock it off now. I'm still the same street rat that was stealing bread only yesterday." I said, annoyed but still very disoriented.

"As you wish." Earth King Fong agreed, sitting up.

"Does everyone know the plan now?" Earth Queen Zia questioned, smiling worriedly at everyone.

I raised my hand, unsure of whether or not that this was proper behavior. "Um, I don't. What is the plan?"

"You are to travel around the world with our children to learn all four elements and stop the Ones from tearing our world apart." Chief Kai informed me very solemnly.

I stared at them. I did not believe for one second what they were telling me. I crossed my arms and frowned at them. "What's the catch?"

"There is no catch. We will not burden you any more than we already have." Monk Ei replied, giving me a concerned, caring look.

I still didn't believe them, but I liked the monk. She seemed to be the most honest, trustworthy person there, and she seemed to have the most common sense where the royals lacked. I decided to trust them, only for the monk's sake.

"Fine. I'll agree." I told them. When Prince Bojing smiled at me, I knew that it wasn't just for the monk's sake. The Water Tribe prince, there was something about him that I liked. Maybe it was how he didn't judge me like the other two Junior Royals.

"Then, let's get you cleaned up." Princess Jingfei said, pulling me out of the room and down to what I assumed to be a dressing room. She whispered something to the two identical servants, and they left.

I was trying to figure out what she had said to them when the servants came back with a large bag in their hands. They put it behind a changing curtain and shoved me in after it.

I poked the bag with my foot and checked it all over for some sort of trick. Years of thieving have taught me that what seems harmless could be the end of you. Especially if given to you by people you don't trust one bit (I don't trust the spoiled, bratty princess).

After discerning that the bag's contents seemed safe, I cautiously opened it and found Air Nomad clothes. Apparently, now that they know my element, I had to dress like what I supposed was my people. Even though I liked my clothes and didn't wish to change, I pulled off my rags. I climbed into the tub that they set up and used as much soap as I could to get the soot, blood, and dirt off of me, uncovering my air bender tattoos.

I hid my tattoos under dirt. People tend to trust you more when you show no outward signs of being a bender. Can you even think of how people would have reacted if they'd seen a girl with air bender tattoos stealing food? They'd have caught me instantly!

I dried off and pulled out the clothes. It was a simple air bender shirt and a pair of air bender yellow loose pants. Not as bad as I thought it was going to be. I kept my black wrappings on my feet because the air bender slippers didn't fit my feet. Maybe I'd get some better ones or new wrapping later, but I didn't know.

When I walked out from behind the curtain, the servants sat me in a chair and proceeded to shove shoe after shoe onto my feet, trying to find my size. Finally, they found a pair of orange sandals that fit perfectly.

They ushered me into a waiting area where Princess Jingfei waited. She looked up at me from her book and clapped her hands in delight. "Much better, don't you think?"

I shrugged. "I guess…"

She sat me down and brushed out my hair, which she fought with for what seemed like forever. Finally, she pulled my unruly hair into a long braid and pinned my bangs out of my face.

"Come on, silly. We're leaving soon." She dragged me out to some sort of stable and motioned to the ostrich horses that had fully packed saddle bags.

"Leaving? For what?" I questioned, completely confused.

Princess Jingfei rolled her eyes at me. "For our journey."

Okay. This was getting way too rushed for me. I don't even get a meal or long enough time to grieve for my loved ones.

Prince Bojing was securing a bag to one of the ostrich horses and glanced over at us, flashing a brief smile before returning to his task. He did his work quickly and walked over to us, an easy-going air about him.

"All ready, you two?" He asked, looking ready to leave any second.

Prince Jianguo walked into the stable and scoffed, "Princess Jingfei won't be ready until she packs her entire closet, so we'll be waiting for a couple of days before they find enough ostrich horses to carry it all."

I looked over at Princess Jingfei as her eyes sparked in anger. She retorted, "Oh, and they won't need twice as many ostrich horses just for your toys?"

"They aren't toys! They're delicate machines that need the utmost care to keep from ruining." Prince Jianguo snapped, sparks flying from his fingertips.

They glared at each other, and I felt the tension and practically saw the sparks between their gaze. At the very climax of their silent debate, my stomach let out a rather loud grumble, and I instantly held my stomach.

"Eh, sorry. I just haven't eaten today." I scratched the back of my head embarrassedly and tried for a smile, but it felt awkward.

To my relief, Prince Bojing smiled and said, "Then, let's get you something to eat before we go."

Leaving the other two to duke it out, he led me down hallway after hallway. I started thinking about what would happen if we got lost in there when we found the kitchen.

I twirled around in awe at the huge space. And the smell! Oh, air, the smell! It was heavenly and savory and I could practically taste the food already in my mouth. There was so much food that I felt a sudden gluttony feeling coming on. I'd never ever seen so much food in my life.

Prince Bojing handed me a bowl of white rice covered in some kind of sauce, an apple, and a strawberry bun with little chocolate bits in it. I almost forgot to chew my food which resulted in Prince Bojing having to hold onto most of the food while I ate one thing at a time.

I finished the rice and snatched the strawberry bun when he wasn't looking, stuffing half of it into my mouth. I chewed it slowly to savor it and swallowed, taking small bites from the rest of the bun.

"Do you like it?" Prince Bojing asked, smiling as I nodded enthusiastically. He laughed. "Then, we'll pack a few for you."

He waved over a servant who bowed and packed a small sack full of the strawberry buns. Smiling, I snatched the bag and ran down the halls. I only managed to get myself lost though.

Fortunately, all I had to do was follow the sound of fighting to find my destination, and it only took me about an hour or two. Trust me, the racket that the fire bender and earth bender were making echoed through the entire castle.


	4. Chapter 4: The Journey Begins?

I didn't want to walk in between them, so I slunk around them to the ostrich horse that I assumed was mine since it had an air bender staff hooked to it. I stashed my strawberry buns in one of the saddle bags and sat back to watch the fight.

It was really quite interesting, since neither was gaining any headway. I watched the rocks, fire, and sometimes flaming rocks fly through the air back and forth. A crick in my neck was starting to form from the constant head swiveling.

"So, they haven't even come close to stopping, eh?" Prince Bojing asked, suddenly appearing beside me.

"What the-!" I exclaimed, jumping away.

Prince Bojing raised his hands in a calming motion with a genuine apologetic face. "Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you."

I relaxed, if only slightly. "It's okay. I guess I'm a bit jumpy today."

"Are you ready? We'll leave after those two knock it off." He raised his voice at the end so that the other two royals could hear him.

They both immediately stopped fighting. Princess Jingfei smoothed down a few stray hairs and said, "I've been ready."

"Yeah, right. You still aren't ready, since you haven't even gotten your dolls from your room yet." Prince Jianguo sneered, dusting off his clothes.

Before they could start arguing again, Prince Bojing jumped in between them. Not the smartest idea in my opinion.

"Calm down. We have a long journey ahead of us, and we won't do any good if we tire ourselves out now." He reasoned. The other two actually listened to him, to my surprise.

We mounted up and started out of the city. Princess Jingfei led the way followed by Prince Jianguo, then me, and finally Prince Bojing brought up the rear.

"Where are we going?" I called out to no one in particular.

"We're going to get you out of the city. News will soon be around that the Avatar is in Ba Sing Se, thanks to some very loose-tongued servants." Princess Jingfei called back. She sounded annoyed, but when doesn't she?

We passed out of the outer walls as Prince Jianguo turned backwards and explained, "Since the Ones want you dead, we'll be moving around a lot. Plus, you need to learn all four elements, so we need to visit each country to find you a master. Not all of us bend after all."

He glanced back at Prince Bojing. The Water Tribes' prince's face was shadowed over as if a dark cloud hung over him.


End file.
